Beef Recall Forces Topps to Shut Down

Carlos Ramos, center, who said he has worked for 33 years at the Topps Meat Co. plant in Elizabeth, N.J., kisses other employees, who would not give their names, outside the plant, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Topps Meat Co. on Friday said it was closing its business, six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it first opened it doors. (AP Photo/Mike Derer) (Mike Derer - AP)

Topps gets beef parts from slaughterhouses, grinds them, forms the meat into patties and freezes them.

Privately held Topps, which claimed to be the leading U.S. maker of frozen hamburger patties, said it sells its products to supermarkets and institutions such as schools, hospitals, restaurants and hotels.

Not everyone was worried about eating Topps beef.

Employees had a cookout Friday and Topps hamburgers were on the menu, said Archimedes Antigua, 58, who added that workers were assured the meat was safe. "People just don't know how to handle it" through proper cooking, said Antigua, who said he worked there 36 years. "There's nothing wrong with our product."

A full list of the recalled products is available at http://www.toppsmeat.com.

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Associated Press reporter David Porter and Associated Press photographer Mike Derer in Elizabeth, and Associated Press reporter Marcus Kabel in Springfield, Mo., contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Topps: http://www.toppsmeat.com/

USDA: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/